SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
SLAC Public Lecture Series

Lecture Details

Archaeopteryx: Bringing the Dino-Bird to Life

Uwe Bergmann, SLAC

Lecture Date: Tuesday,  January  25,  2011

Abstract:

Some 150 million years ago, a strange creature died in a tropical lagoon that today is located in Bavaria, Germany. In 1861, a single feather of this creature was discovered. Not long afterward, a complete fossil was found with the same bird-like feathers but dinosaur-like anatomical features. Darwin had just published "On the Origin of Species"; could this be the missing link that Darwin's supporters hoped to find? Recently, two of the now eleven discovered Archaeopteryx fossils, and that first feather, were brought to SLAC, where, using the intense X-ray beam, researchers searched for the chemical remains of the original living creatures. Please join us for this lecture, which will explain how the studies attempt to bring the original dino-bird back to life.

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